It's Written in the Stars
by thesirenserenity
Summary: A cold night under the stars brings out their worst fears. They find solace in each other and the legends of the stars. One-shot, NaLu


Lucy woke with a start, violently jerking out of slumber and sitting up, panting for breath. She clutched her blanket around her, calming her breath down as she took in the scene around her. Her sleeping comrades around her remained undisturbed by her violent awakening. A small smile graced her lips as she observed Wendy's serenity, with Charle cuddled in her arms. Erza looked the most innocent when she was sleeping, and Gray was sleep-stripping his shirt off a few feet away. She looked down at Happy, who was curled next to her. Even he was undisturbed.

But where was…

"You okay, Lucy?" Natsu's voice rang out.

Lucy turned with a start to find the origin of his voice. She could make out his figure across the dying embers of their campfire. His eyes lit up the darkness of the forest, and she could feel them staring into her soul.

She sighed, nothing got past him. "Yeah, just a bad dream."

His oddly subdued voice cut through the silence again, "You want to talk about it?"

A flash of remembrance shot through her, the feeling of falling making her frantic once more. She shook her head, but then remembered he couldn't see her. "No, I'll be fine for now."

He chuckled, "So it's too raw right now?"

She huffed. Nothing ever got past him. "I'm going back to sleep."

"Goodnight Lucy. You're safe here."

 _… With me watching over you…_

His unspoken words still gave her comfort as she laid back down and turned to face her cold back to the dying embers. Happy murmured something that sounded like "Charle" and then cuddled back into her.

She laid awake for a good twenty minutes before she gave up trying to fall back asleep. The memory of the dream scared her, and she did not want to enter back into it.

She sighed, and then slowly gathered the blanket around her, getting up gently as to not disturb the sleeping cat nor the girl next to her. Lucy made her way around the campfire, the cold air kissing her face. She sat down next to Natsu, ignoring his unsurprised face.

Heat radiated off him and Lucy struggled not to sit closer to him.

They sat in silence, finding comfort in each other's company.

Lucy tucked her blanket closer around her, trying not to shiver. Finally, she broke the silence, "I didn't realize someone was supposed to keep watch tonight."

"No. Just can't sleep."

Lucy started at his blunt, harsh honesty. Natsu normally had no issue conking out regardless of where they were. Something was up.

Before she could ask, his arms encircled her and he pulled her closer to him, causing a small "eep!" to escape her lips. She was about to turn indignantly to him, when he explained. "You were shivering."

And so she had been.

The warmth of his body against her side and his arm around her back was immediately warming her up. She sighed and gave up, allowing herself to have this moment, with no guild-mates around to tease her. She gently laid her head on the crook between his shoulder and chest, waiting for his response. She was rewarded with him stiffening up for a moment, and then relaxing, his head falling on top of hers. Her cold hands sought out his other warm one on his lap, and she pulled it on her own and buried the cold digits underneath.

It was moments like these where she knew that Natsu wasn't as oblivious as everyone made him out to be, and that the butterflies in her stomach and her pounding heart meant something.

But neither of them acknowledged the intimacy of the moment.

These moments were becoming more frequent. A squeeze of the hand here, his arm around her there; a stolen hug, a tender word.

She ignored how her heart was beating erratically and thrust away the thought that he could feel it.

"Tell me your dream," he asked, his breath tickling the top of her head.

"Tell me why you can't sleep," She demanded in return.

He sighed, and his arm tightened around her, the pad of his thumb brushing across her palms.

"I'm afraid."

Natsu? Afraid? "Of?"

"Losing you."

A sharp intake of breath, and then she breathed out, "Natsu… I'm right here, I'll always be right here."

His hand sought the confines of hers, his fingers entwining with hers, her other hand placed on top of his.

He sighed, "I know, but you have been almost taken away from me so many times. We always barely make it. What happens if I'm not enough to save you next time? I can't lose you, Luce."

She squeezed his hand and turned in his arms so she was facing him, seeking his dark onyx eyes. Her hand sought his face, turning it to face her, "Natsu… You're always enough for me. You've always managed and I believe in you. You know that."

He sighed and leaned his head forward to connect their foreheads. His eyes wouldn't meet hers again.

"Natsu, in my dream, I had to watch you be killed in front of me. Then, I was falling. And I wasn't scared because I knew you couldn't catch me that time, but because I knew that you were gone and even though I figured I would die from the fall, living without you for those few moments was the worst pain in the world. We are partners, nakama. I need you and am just as scared of losing you."

His breath hitched, his forehead sliding into her neck, and she watched as a glistening tear fell onto her hand.

Lucy sighed, knowing that she was about to overstep the unspoken boundaries, but was willing to do anything to comfort him.

She pulled herself tenderly into his lap, pressing his head further into her neck. His arms encircled her, holding her as though she would leave him in just moments. Her own arms encircled his neck, as she clung to him just as desperately. Her fingers tangled into his hair, his brushing the bare skin around her waist.

She pulled his face up, staring into his eyes as she pressed a tender kiss to his forehead.

A growl sounded in his throat as his grip tightened around her and he pressed his face back into the comfort of her neck.

They stayed like that, their arms around each other, as close as they could possibly be. They drew strength from each other, relishing in the fact that they were together in that moment.

"Lucy?" his breath tickled her bare skin.

Her hand fluttered back into his hair, "Yes, Natsu?"

"Tell me about the stars."

A smile graced her lips. "Here," she said, as she turned in his lap and settled in-between his legs, her back pressed against his chest, his arms still encircling her. His head was nestled on her shoulder, his breath tickling her.

She grabbed one of his hands and used it to trace stars in the sky. "You see the big streak of stars in the sky? Don't they look like a path?"

His face nuzzled closer to hers as he murmured an "mmhmm."

"That's called the Milky Way." She used his finger to trace another constellation. "That one is Altair, the cowherd, and this one," she pointed out one across the sky, "Is Vega, the weaver girl."

She continued, their hands dropping back onto Lucy's lap, "They were in love, but their love was forbidden and they were separated by the great river, the Milky Way. Once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month, a flock of magpies creates a bridge for them, so that they may be reunited for one day."

Lucy could feel Natsu pulling her even closer, responding to the story. She continued, "Even the stars recognize true love and the need to be together. It gives me hope."

Natsu was smiling against the skin of her neck. She breathed out as his head lifted, and he pressed a tender kiss to her temple. Something was changing between them, indeed.

She could feel him murmur, his lips still against her temple, "That means that even if we are separated, it's written in the stars: We will be reunited again."

She smiled, her heart leaping at his words. They would always be reunited.

 _It's written in the stars._

 **Excuse the angsty fluff and the depressed Natsu... I figured that one day, the amount of close calls would take a toll on him. The story comes from ancient Asian mythology; the story of the Cowherd and the silk weaver. Check it out!**

 **Please review and let me know what you think. Thank you for reading!**


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